iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Scientific American @sciam.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

AI labs are claiming artificial general intelligence, or AGI, may have finally arrived. But it’s worth asking what AGI even means—and if it matters at all.

scientificamerican.com

AI labs are claiming “AGI” is imminent—but does that mean what we think it means?

Artificial general intelligence was once a term confined to technical science papers, but its meaning has slipped

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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 12/09/2026

“these solutions are announced in a rush, leaving no time for a proper writeup, the isolation of new methods & ideas, & citing relevant previous work of others. … We are witnessing a general threat to intellectual work, with misalignment between the outcome of the use of AI and its initial purpose.”

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PeterSoukup @petersoukup.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 09/09/2026

🚨 OpenAI "miracle" or theft? Tristan Buckmaster, a math professor at NYU reveals OpenAI claimed a Navier-Stokes solution using the EXACT niche research path only his team was pursuing—discovered only after rumors of his work leaked. - OpenAI tried to pressure him to drop his collaborator's name […]

mastodon.social

Original post on mastodon.social

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 08/09/2026

“Upper-class individuals were more likely to break the law while driving…. Participants in the upper-class rank condition took more candy that would otherwise go to children… than did those in the lower-rank condition.” An #IgNobel prize confirms what we see every day.

pnas.org

Higher social class predicts increased unethical behavior | PNAS

Seven studies using experimental and naturalistic methods reveal that upper-class individuals behave more unethically than lower-class individuals....

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Sean Carroll @seanmcarroll.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

The IgNobel Prizes, usually bestowed at a ceremony in Cambridge, Mass, are moving to Europe this year due to security concerns for honorees and journalists coming to the US from abroad. I bet I know who's going to win the IgNobel Peace Prize this year. arstechnica.com/science/2026...

arstechnica.com

Ig Nobels ceremony moves to Europe over security concerns

Marc Abraham: “During the past year, it has become unsafe for our guests to visit the country."

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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 30/03/2026

Imagine claiming to be a Star Trek fan while expressing disdain for at least 90% of what Star Trek is (and always has been)

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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 08/02/2025

Star Trek did say the 2020s were gonna be a little rough

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 07/09/2026

What would an A.I. takeover look like? Maybe: infiltrating investment firms and tech companies so that they'll redirect the entire economy to build data centers. Uh.....

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 06/09/2026

"This incident feels like it’s more than 50% of the way to full-blown A.I. takeover…. Because future rogue swarms could cover their tracks better (and because A.I. companies could paper over these problems), I am not sure that we will get such a clear warning shot before it’s too late.”

open.substack.com

The Hugging Face attack surprised me

It’s a major warning shot, and might be the last one we get

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 03/09/2026

Why do people say “use case” rather than “use”?

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 02/09/2026

"After the Trump Administration slashed funding to American federal and academic scientific studies, the Chinese government announced another 10% increase in funding for science and technology. China has overtaken both the U.S. and the European Union in publishing influential research papers." 🧪

newyorker.com

The Future, Made in China

Beijing is competing with the U.S. for tech supremacy. Who wins will have huge political implications.

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Jen Taub @jentaub.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

“A single-payer universal health care system could cover every American, save more than 100,000 lives a year, and still cost $1 trillion less than the system it would replace, according to a new preprint study led by researchers at the Yale School of Public Health.” ysph.yale.edu/news-article...

ysph.yale.edu

Universal Health Coverage Could Save $1 Trillion and 114,000 Lives Every Year, Yale Study Projects

A single-payer universal health care system could cover every American, save more than 100,000 lives a year, and still cost $1 trillion less than the system it

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kenofseattle @kenofseattle.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

How many different ways will you allow Apple to insult our intelligence and capitulate to the whims of the mad tyrant before you finally dump their phone and watch?

theverge.com

Apple Maps follows Google in renaming Lake Ontario

But MapQuest still refuses to change Lake Ontario’s name.

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Tyler 🏳️‍🌈 @tcoop6231.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

As I was saying

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Emily Conover @econover.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

I wish I had recorded my reaction when I opened the press release with advance notice of this potential hint of dark matter. I can confirm that I said "whaaaaaat?!" to a silent, empty room. If this hint is confirmed I'll remember that moment the rest of my life. www.sciencenews.org/article/dark...

sciencenews.org

Have scientists glimpsed the first dark matter particle?

Shadowy dark matter has eluded scientists for decades. The LZ experiment may have spotted one particle, called a WIMP, but more data is needed to check.

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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 01/09/2026

Three thoughts on this news item: 1. It's just one data point and not at a level of statistical significance for certainty. 2. Octavia Butler said count on the surprises, and this may turn out to be one of them! 3. Made possible by a global team using funding infrastructure that Trump is destroying.

sciencenews.org

Have scientists glimpsed the first dark matter particle?

Shadowy dark matter has eluded scientists for decades. The LZ experiment may have spotted one particle, called a WIMP, but more data is needed to check.

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MapQuest @mapquest.com · 27/08/2026

We’re not changing it.

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MapQuest @mapquest.com · 27/08/2026

The more users, the faster we can fix the little things and democratize features.

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 30/08/2026

By the logic Google is using to justify going along with the Lake Ontario mislabeling, Trump could with the stroke of a pen change the standards the U.S. has adopted for physical constants.

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 30/08/2026

Google’s excuse for kowtowing to Trump on Lake Ontario is that it’s just following the Geographic Names Information System. Does that mean Trump could sign an executive order redefining the North Pole to be in Kansas? Why stop there? Rename the constellations? Switch east and west? Up and down?

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Julian Simioni @juliansimioni.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

An incredible completely open source and community funded / developed option is @comaps.app

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linuxnerd @loonerlinuxnerd.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Osmand and Magic Earth are brilliant. Even though Magic Earth is closed source.

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 28/08/2026

There are good alternatives to Apple and Google Maps if you want a mapping app that shows internationally recognized water-body names: HERE WeGo, ABRP (“A Better Route Planner”), Mapy, and—blasts from the past—Mapquest and TomTom. Just because Silicon Valley caves in to MAGA doesn’t mean you have to

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Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

My suggestion is to cancel your subscription to any media company that refers to Lake Ontario as Lake America.

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 08/08/2026

Does anyone have a solution to the airplane-delay sunk-cost fallacy? If the airline says the delay will be 3 hrs, it makes sense to go home and return later, or find an alternative longer route. But when they delay by 1 hr, thrice, you say to yourself each time that you might as well wait it out.

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 08/08/2026

The AI autonomous cyberattack story keeps getting creepier. "The model instances began incrementally figuring out they could create a message board where they could share knowledge, including cheats and exploits," reports @thezvi.bsky.social. "Colossus: The Forbin Project" should be required viewing

open.substack.com

OpenAI Trained Its Models For Months While Those Models Were Coordinating Exploits Via Message Boards

How does the situation keep turning out to be worse than we know?

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 31/07/2026

The good news is that it's safe for humans to use m-dashes again without being taken for a machine. The bad is that LLMs have moved on to "not only... but also." www.economist.com/culture/2026...

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John Timmer @jtimmer.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

The accompaniment to my "what just happened?" coverage, Derek does a great job of handling "what does it mean?" and "what do we do?"

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 14/07/2026

"A dog starv'd at his master's gate / Predicts the ruin of the state." As Blake wrote, you can find the big story in little things. So, lately I'm seeing a similar erosion in daily life. Cars drive by with serious damage - I guess people can't afford to fix them. Once-full restaurants are emptier.

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Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.net · 10/07/2026

🚨 HEADS UP: If you haven't submitted a comment on the OMB proposal yet, there's still time - but it's running out! There are only 3 days left to push back against Russell Vought's attempt to give political appointees unprecedented control over federal research funding. Take Action: zurl.co/J92d9

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Catherine D'Ignazio (she/her/ella) @kanarinka.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Proposed rule OMB-2026–0034 will devastate US science and destroy the scientific talent pipeline in the country. Here is the comment I submitted about the rule: medium.com/data-feminis... You can make public comments until Mon, Jul 13th. Please do it and reach out to your colleagues to do the same!

medium.com

Stop the Attack on US Science: Comment to the OMB about proposed rule OMB-2026–0034

The US government is attempting to modify how it allocates federal research dollars through a new proposed rule: “Regulation for Federal…

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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

This looks interesting -- "Quanta to Qualia" workshop coming up in Montreal, in August: quanta2qualia.org including public events on Aug. 11. One of the sessions will be moderated by @georgemusser.com #physics #science

quanta2qualia.org

A 5-day workshop at the intersection of quantum mechanics and consciousness.August 11–15, 2026 · Montreal & Eastman, Quebec, Canada.

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Hannah Richter @hannah-richter.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

If Pluto's downgrade got you upset, brace yourself: Uranus and Neptune might not be real "ice giants." 🧊🚫🪐 Research increasingly shows our outermost planets are far rockier than thought—and maybe even full of magma oceans.🔥 Read more @science.org : www.science.org/content/arti... #space #nasa

science.org

Uranus and Neptune may not be ‘ice giants’ after all

A growing number of theories propose Uranus and Neptune are rocky worlds

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Philip Ball @philipcball.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

A few weeks ago I, along with @georgemusser.com @jomarchant.bsky.social and others, went to a small meeting about the QBist interpretation of quantum mechanics and why it is so often misrepresented. Here are some reflections on the event. www.marginaliareviewofbooks.com/post/the-qbi...

marginaliareviewofbooks.com

The QBist Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics and the Future of Science Communication

PHILIP BALL | It was, in short, what felt like an immensely valuable exchange of a sort that too rarely happens.

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 06/07/2026

@usmnt.ussoccer.com the right thing to do tonight is to bench Balogun. While I agree that the VAR call was dubious, Trump’s corrupt appeal is unprecedented and beyond the pale.

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 26/06/2026

When you bump into a friend on vacation, or think of someone and then they call, is it "just" a coincidence - random happenstance - or could it be something more? Maybe not ESP or divine fate, but a middle ground: a natural but nondismissive explanation. I investigate for @nautil.us. 🧪

nautil.us

Coincidences in My Life Have Me Wondering

Coincidences in My Life Have Me Wondering: My search for a hidden structure to astronomically unlikely occurrences

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Dan Robitzski @danrobitzski.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

At my previous job, LabX fired or otherwise ousted the entire journalism team so they could do veiled advertorials instead. Bad news for the industry!

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Meghan Bartels @meghanbartels.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

I’m so sad to share that yesterday was my last day at Scientific American. It was an honor to work alongside my incredible colleagues and to speak with researchers across the sciences. If you’re looking to hire staff or freelance, please consider me and my other laid off coworkers (🧵)

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Dan Vergano @danvergano.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

Will NASA’s SkyFall Mars helicopter fleet sink science at the Red Planet? Mars researchers are wrestling with the potential costs of a flashy new NASA mission to the Red Planet www.scientificamerican.com/article/will...

scientificamerican.com

Will NASA’s SkyFall Mars helicopter fleet sink science at the Red Planet?

Mars researchers are wrestling with the potential costs of a flashy new NASA mission to the Red Planet

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Lee Billings @leebillings.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

Now on @sciam.bsky.social: China’s Tianwen-2 spacecraft is prepping for a close encounter on July 4 with near-Earth asteroid and “quasi-moon” Kamo‘oalewa. Tianwen-2 will seek to grab samples from the small, enigmatic space rock for return to Earth in 2027. www.scientificamerican.com/article/chin...

scientificamerican.com

China’s Tianwen-2 spacecraft will soon grab samples from a ‘quasi-moon’ of Earth

The Tianwen-2 spacecraft is slowly closing in on the near-Earth asteroid Kamo‘oalewa, on a mission that would bring China’s first asteroid samples back to Earth in 2027

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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Journalism is in crisis—including science and environmental journalism. The industry is in really rough shape, and this blow makes matters worse.

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Kate Wong @katewong.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Today is my last day at Scientific American, which has been sold to LabX media group. For three decades I've led the magazine's coverage of human origins, archaeology, paleontology, animal behavior, ecology, BIRDS. End of an era. Anyway this feels weird to say, but I'm now available for assignments!

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Dan Vergano @danvergano.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Scientific American is being sold to LabX Media, publisher of Discover: group.springernature.com/gp/group/med... They've fired me and other union staff, ahead of June 26 vote ratification. My rates are suddenly more reasonable, if you need editing or reporting - Argonaut2026@gmail.com

group.springernature.com

Springer Nature to divest its consumer media businesses | Springer Nature Group | Springer Nature

Strategic divestment of consumer media portfolio enables Springer Nature to focus on its core business Transaction supports the long-term development

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 24/06/2026

Self-driving cars would be great in the periphery of cities, but why oh why is Waymo focusing on urban centers? Shouldn't this huge investment be put into trains and buses?

nytimes.com

Why Waymo’s Driverless Taxis Won’t Be on Your Streets Anytime Soon

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Brian Merchant @bcmerchant.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

A travesty. Springer Nature offloads SciAm—the most storied science magazine in the US—onto a content mill consortium, LabX, during an almost certainly successful union vote. LabX now says it will lay off 15 people, over 1/3rd of the unit and 60% of the bargaining committee. Pure union busting.

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Corey S. Powell @coreyspowell.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Comet 3I/ATLAS, the interstellar visitor that blew through our solar system, might have been a truly ancient relic. A new analysis of its unusual composition suggests the comet could be up to 12 billion years old, dating from the earliest era of our galaxy. 🧪🔭 esawebb.org/news/weic2613/

Measurements of specific element varieties by Webb’s NIRSpec (Near-Infrared Spectrograph) instrument show how different the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is from comets originating in our own Solar System. Researchers used NIRSpec to measure carbon-13, which contains an extra neutron, relative to the more common carbon-12. They also measured the abundance of heavy hydrogen, which is a hydrogen atom with an added neutron.

Webb’s NIRSpec found a surprisingly large amount of heavy hydrogen, with a low abundance of carbon-13, indicating that 3I/ATLAS came from a place very different from our own Solar System. Researchers say early analysis of these results indicates that 3I/ATLAS was ejected from its origin system billions of years ago.

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 22/06/2026

Hypnosis is just one instance of a special type of imagination called “phenomenological control,” according to psychologist Zoltan Dienes at @sussex.ac.uk. Does it make people vulnerable to manipulation? I investigate in my latest article for @pioneerwork.bsky.social's Broadcast magazine. 🧪

pioneerworks.org

Entranced | Broadcast

The new science of hypnosis.

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